It Wouldn't Kill Him To Wait
by fandomgirlxx
Summary: Ethan is jumped on a night out when Cal is late to meet him and Cal must deal with the worry, guilt and anger over what happened to his baby brother.
1. Chapter 1

**Authors Note**; Hope you and enjoy and please review and let me know how I did :)

**Summary**; Ethan is jumped on a night out when Cal is late to meet him and Cal must deal with the worry and guilt over his baby brother.

**Disclaimer**; I do not own Casualty or the characters.

**Warning**; Includes one word of swearing.

* * *

Where the hell was he? It was late, dark and cold and Ethan was getting fed up.

He hadn't even wanted to go on this stupid night out with Cal but for some unknown reason, he had eventually agreed and now Cal couldn't even be bothered showing up.

Ethan had been waiting for 40 minutes now and was on the verge of leaving.

If he's forgotten about me to go off with some pretty girl he had met that night...

This was ridiculous. All Cal did was mess him around and he was sick of it.

He wouldn't even care he had made him wait in the cold for 40 minutes, damn Cal, he was so selfish, something he never grew out of.

It was when he had made his decision to just leave when the boys approached him.

"Excuse me, do you have the time?"

Ethan looked up, surprised to have been acknowledged by the boy and then his good manners (well at least ONE person in their family possessed them) kicked in and looked at his watch.

"10.30" Ethan said with a smile.

"Nice watch" the boy, who was only a teenager, stated then looked at his friends.

"Thank you", Ethan replied, feeling awkward.

"Must be pretty well of then" another boy said.

There was four of them.

Not wanting to discuss his financial arrangements with a group of teenagers he had just met on an alleway on Saturday night, he gave them a brief smile and started to walk off.

He didn't get far before the boys grabbed him, went into his pockets and started beating him up.

* * *

Shit.

Ethan was going to kill him, Cal thought to himself.

He hadn't meant to be late but it wasn't exactly his fault he had gotten ambushed by a gorgeous girl.

Guess he was just that irresistible.

At least he'd gotten a hot date for tomorrow night.

Still, he did feel a bit bad over making Ethan wait so long. Before, he wouldn't have cared but since the crash, he was more aware of things like this.

Only ever so slightly though, it was only waiting, not like Cal being late would kill him.

It was only when he turned the corner to meet his brother that he realized maybe it had.

"Ethan!" Cal shouted, staring at the bruised and bloodied shape of his baby brother on the cold pavement.

* * *

**Authors Note**; And that's it for Chapter 1! Will update soon, depends if anyone is interested in seeing this story continue. Thanks for reading and see you next time!


	2. Chapter 2

**Authors Note**; Thank you to those who reviewed and followed the last chapter, I hope this chapter doesn't disappoint!

* * *

Cal had ran over to Ethan and dropped down to his knees next to his brother before he registered he was doing it.

"Ethan! Can you hear me? Ethan?!"

Cal takes in his brother's appearance and has to stop himself from vomiting.

Ethan was covered in blood, especially his face.

He had been a doctor for years and seen countless horrific gruesome injuries but nothing compared to this.

Sure, the actual injuries couldn't compare to other ones he had seen but that didn't matter. It was the fact the injuries were on Ethan. His brother. His baby brother

And this was no accident. Someone had inflicted this on his brother. Someone had hurt his brother.

Cal reached into his pocket with fumbling fingers and took his phone out.

With his hands shaking, he dialled 999.

"Hello, I need an ambulance. It's my brother, he's been attacked I think and he's unconscious. We're round the corner from the Toll Bar."

Cal quickly put his phone down and gently put his hand on Ethan's shoulder.

"Ethan, can you open your eyes for me mate? Come on Ethan, for me, open your eyes."

Cal felt sick.

Who the hell had done this. Why would anyone ever want to hurt Ethan, he was always so thoughtful, so considerate of everyone. He had never wronged anyone in his life.

"Cal?" Ethan said weakly.

Cal jumped to attention.

"Yes, I'm here Ethan. What happened? Who did this to you?"

"I-I, don't know. They got me from behind and it all happened so quickly. Hurts."

Cal had to hold back the tears from seeing the one person he loved most in the world in pain.

"It's okay Ethan. The ambulance is on it's way and I'm here. You're going to be all right."

Cal didn't know whose benefit he was saying it for, Ethan's or his own.

He had to be okay.

Ethan not being okay just wasn't a possibility.

God, this was his fault.

If he had just been in time to meet him, they would of went into the pub together, had a drink, Cal would have gotten hopelessly drunk and Ethan would drag him home to their flat.

It should have been Ethan looking after Cal tonight, not the other way around.

Though he hadn't looked after him at all.

He was 40 minutes late.

Oh god, this was all his fault, Ethan was hurt because of him.

Cal was snapped out of his thoughts by Ethan's groans of pain.

"Here", Cal quickly took off his coat and wrapped it around his brother.

"Thanks" Ethan whispered.

"Where does it hurt most?"

"Here". Ethan pointed towards his ribs.

Cal put his fingers on them, as gently as he possibly could but Ethan still screamed out in pain.

They must be broken. Oh god, Ethan.

"Hey now, don't be such a cry baby" Cal joked, but there was nothing behind it.

Joking was the only way Cal knew how to communicate with his brother but his heart wasn't in it at all tonight.

"You should see the other guy" Ethan joked along, but groaned in pain straight after his attempt.

Anger filled Cal once more.

"Yeah, I wish I could" he said darkly.

He then heard the familiar sound of an ambulance pulling up.

"We're over here!" he shouted.

The next few minutes happened in a blur; Dixie and Iain arriving, asking questions, speaking to Ethan, putting him on a trolley, packing him into the ambulace driving off.

Ethan went in the back with his brother and didn't take his eyes off him the whole time.

* * *

**A/N**; End of chapter 2! I updated this embarrasingly quickly but I'm just really excited about my own story! Hope you enjoyed and please review, see you for Chapter 3!:)


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N; Once again, thanks for all the reviews, favourites and follows, it means a lot to me! Hope you enjoy chapter 3!:)**

* * *

Ethan is a mess.

He has two broken ribs, a broken nose, a mild concussion and his body is covered with heavy bruising.

Cal wanted to treat him again but Connie prevented him, sending him to the relatives room instead.

I should have been the one to treat him, it was my fault he was hurt and then I wasn't even the one to help him, Cal thought to himself.

He felt sick knowing Ethan was in pain because of him.

He had done what he always did and put himself before his little brother and as a result, Ethan had been beaten to a pulp.

He swore the day of the crash he would change and be a better brother but clearly nothing had changed.

He was a pathetic excuse for a brother and Ethan deserved more. So much more.

"You can come see him now if you want" Connie's voice took his from his thoughts, "but not for long, he needs rest."

"Thanks Connie" Cal says quietly then proceeded to Ethan's room.

As he opened the door to the room, he shuddered at the sight of his badly injured brother in a hospital bed for the second time in less than a year.

"You're making a habit out of this" he joked.

"Yeah. Sorry." Ethan replied.

This confused Cal.

"Sorry? What are you sorry for?"

"For making you worry. Again."

This made Cal smile.

"I wasn't worried. Don't be stupid Nibbles."

Ethan gave him the same look he had given him months previously when Cal had tried to justify his speech to Ethan of how much he needed him.

Cal sighed and sat down.

"Look Ethan, I'm sorry. If I was on time this wouldn't have happened to you. I'm sorry."

"You saying sorry? Who are you and what have you done with my brother?" Ethan replied, amused.

Ethan was right. "Sorry" just wasn't a word that was in Cal's vocabulary, he normally made a mess of things then left someone else to clear it up, most likely Ethan.

But this time, he truly meant it.

"Seriously. I'm sorry."

"It's all-right Cal. It wasn't your fault."

Typical Ethan, trying to make everyone else feel better when he was the one lying in hospital.

"Yes it was Ethan. It won't happen again. I'll be a better brother from now on, I swear."

The tears were threatening to fall.

Ethan looked confused for a few moments before speaking.

"This has really affected you hasn't it?" he asked.

Yes.

Seeing Ethan's body lying there surrounded by blood...Cal's heart near stopped.

However, Cal wasn't one for openly showing emotions and it was threatening to become that so he quickly reverted back to the one way he knew how to deal with these situations.

"Yeah, I had to come here instead of getting out of my mind drunk. So don't get injured again okay, don't want to spend my time here when I could be doing other more important things."

"Hmm" Ethan said quietly and Cal noticed his eyes were starting to close.

"Ethan?" Cal asked quickly, worried he was slipping back into unconsciousness.

"I'm okay Cal, I'm just tired. I'm off to sleep I think, why don't you go out drinking now."

Cal nodded.

"Nah, I think I'll stay here actually." he said, making himself comfortable.

Ethan smiled at his big brother then drifted off to sleep.

Cal would never take his eyes off his brother again.

* * *

**The End! Hope you enjoyed my story, please review for me one last time? Especially since I'm not so sure about this chapter, but thanks for reading and see you next time hopefully!**


End file.
